MOD Corsham
=SEF HQ Corsham= ---- Overview The nuclear bunker facilities beneath the historic market town of Corsham in Wiltshire are a relic of the Cold War, built from an underground aeroplane factory itself a relic of the Second World War. Planned to be the main Emergency Government Headquarters code-named Site 3 the facility was built to serve as a central hub from which Governance of the UK in the event of Nuclear War could continue. Totally self-contained, blast-proof and radiation proof this 'underground city' covers 35 acres of land, and could safely house up to 4000 residents in the case of Nuclear War. The facility was kept manned and readied right up until 1991 when the Government decided to cease upgrade work and began the slow process of decommissioning the bunker. Throughout the 1990's the bunker was kept maintained by a skeleton crew of personnel and at the turn of the millennium the facility was rapidly approaching declassification by the government having served as a decoy for the relocation of the Emergency Government HQ to a new location. However, in 2007 the changing needs of Homeworld Security and the establishment of the SEF saw the need for the transfer of the Stargate to a more secure facility from its original home at Bletchly Park. The security and scale of the Site 3 facility made it an idea location for the Gate and the Government liberated the budget to perform a massive overhaul and expansion of the facility which has since become know as SEF HQ Corsham. ---- Facility General Layout and Features Corsham expanded beyond much of its cold-war layout, with facilities laid out in blocks divided by a latticework of underground streets with the highest levels of the facility located 100ft below ground. Originally laid out on a single level, SEF renovation of the facility necessitated the excavation of additional lower levels in order to isolate certain facilities a good distance from the main blocks of the facility, as well as expanding space in existing blocks. Due to the potential of fighting an incursion from within the facility many of the streets have been expanded to accommodate security check points and defensive lines spanning out from the core block where the Stargate is located. While the security stations and gate room within the core block are the immediate line of defence against incursion from the Stargate, a ring of secondary defences is positioned immediately outside the block. These serve as a fall-back line and launching point for assaults into the core block in case an incursion develops a foothold within it. Immediately beyond this defence line are the blocks that house the primary facilities for Security and the primary Armoury for Corsham, a number of secondary security stations and armouries are located at tactical locations throughout the base to enable on-base Security to react rapidly across the entire facility. Located away from the defences around the Stargate the various research arms of the Homeworld Securities R&D Section, the primary Medical facilities for the SEF and a number of residential blocks make up the remaining space within the facility. In many ways it is a good idea to think of Corsham's structure as being similar to that of a modern estate with large multi-story concrete blocks submerged into the ground. Facility Entrances Entry to the facility is accomplished a number of ways, the primary entrance is in the grounds of Rudloe Manor situated directly above the facility, owned by the MOD and operating under the name of MOD Corsham, it serves as something of a covert entrance for personnel, but does not permit vehicle access. Access to SEF HQ is via a large 'cairn' like structure known as the 'Gatehouse' in the grounds of the Manor from which personnel can make the journey 100ft down to the main HQ facility. In addition to arriving via transport the Gatehouse is also accessible via a teleport platform known as a 'ring device' (covered later). The secondary entrance is via MOD Tunnel Quarry, an adjoining MOD facility attached to the SEF HQ site. In the Cold War heyday this provided Site 3 (as it was then) with rail access provided from Box Tunnel on the London-Bristol line, since the SEF took residence the railway has remained out of use, but tunnels from this site to the entrance have been used to give SEF personnel direct vehicle access. Core (Stargate) Block The core facility is the epicentre of SEF operations, located directly at the centre of the facility, leaving plenty of space laid out between it and the immediate exits from SEF HQ. Probably the deepest of the blocks within SEF HQ with the Gate Room located nearly 100ft deeper than most other facilities, it is probably the most variably equipped of the blocks. A self-contained bunker within a self-contained bunker, the core block features a number of hydroponic bays (smoking is permitted in these areas), small laboratories, a mixed mess and bunk rooms. It also contains a security sub-station and a tertiary armoury to allow for immediate response to potential hostile threats coming through the gate. In addition, as would be expected, it has a number of emergency medical bays to receive patients returning through the gate in need of immediate medical attention. At the immediate bottom of the core block is the Gate Room, the most heavily secured, shielded and reinforced area within the entirety of SEF HQ. Not unsurprising as, while the Gate represents the single most important asset for expanding mankind's knowledge off of Earth it presents a back door through which any number of extraterrestrial threats could attack Earth. For this reason it is important that this is the most well defended area of the base, staff are expected to remain clear of the Gate Room and approach corridors when they do not have duties that require them to enter the Gate Room. This allows SEF Security a clear approach to the Gate Room when responding to unauthorised Gate activations or incoming wormholes. Security Block (and Brig) Within responding distance of the Core Block, just beyond the secondary defence lines surrounding it, is the Security Block. Security's upper levels mostly comprise of the Chief of Security's Office and the main offices of the Homeworld Securities Security branch, serving as a break room for Security staff and central hub for coordinating Security personnel across the facility. In addition to this there is a small secondary armoury located in the upper levels of this block to give Security personnel rapid access to weaponry should a situation occur. In the lower levels of the security block is the brig, this collection of holding areas and cells serve as the main detention facility for SEF HQ and are capable of handling short-term detention of disciplined SEF personnel and extraterrestrial criminals. The majority of individuals facing long-term incarceration, given the security threat and danger posed by many of those incarcerated by the SEF, are transferred to the Homeworld Security's off-world Prison facilities. Armoury and General Stores Because of the massive variance of terrains encountered and missions undertaken by the SEF the Armoury and General Stores block is one of the largest areas on the base, stocking a variety of terran and extraterrestrial technology. This block is largely cavernous warehouse space spread out over a number of levels with the facilities primary armoury located on the upper floors. Asides from the warehouse space the upper floor contains the office of the SEF's Quartermaster and the main armoury and stores offices. All weapons and equipment are signed out and returned through this office and a large number of staff work in the main warehouse areas to locate items and ship them up to the main office via goods lifts and conveyors. Medical Block While the Core Block has a number of emergency medical bays available for immediate treatment of patients, the majority of medical treatment is carried out in the Medical Block. Over a number of floors, this expands upon the original hospital facility built on Site 3 with several additional floors of wards, isolation wards and theatres as well as the main offices for Homeworld Security's Medical branch and personnel. As would be expected the Medical block is well equipped to handle specialist treatment of most illnesses and battlefield injuries as well as those of a nature not commonly encountered on Earth. Any specialist cases that require equipment not currently available to Homeworld Security will usually be flown to a specialist hospital in London, provided of course this does not breach Homeworld Security guidelines. R&D Lab Blocks The vast scale of Homeworld Security's R&D division requires SEF HQ Corsham to have a large number of blocks dedicated to laboratories, storage and testing facilities for the various departments of this division. Because of the varying needs of R&D a number of laboratory facilities are kept modular to adapt to the needs of a particular project, though some sections of R&D generally maintain the same layouts over time. R&D Lab Blocks tend to be grouped by area of research, such as Medical R&D being grouped with Xeno-Zoology and Xeno-Botany or by specialist lab requirements, such as High-Energy Research sharing space with Weapons Development due to their test labs requiring similar levels of structural reinforcements in order to protect the structural integrity of Corsham. Residential Blocks and Kitchens The SEF can expect to have around a thousand staff on duty at Corsham at any one time and as such it has substantial residential facilities largely overhauled and upgraded from the original Cold War residential facilities. Due to the expanse of Corsham and the fact that the SEF takes up very little of the intended capacity of the bunker there is enough space to afford every member of permanent staff their own room, with additional bunk space for staff on temporary rotation. Catering is handled in the large centralised block, which houses several kitchens, several large food stores and cold storage lockers, and perhaps one of the more unique features inherited from the original Site 3 complex, its own bakery. Catering is then attached by a network of tunnels to the Officers, NCO & Sergeants and Main Messes in their corresponding residential blocks. For the most part most staff civilian and military regardless of rank make use of the Main Mess and all main meals are served here. Meals in the Officers and NCO & Sergeants Messes are by arrangement with the catering staff only as these Messes mostly serve a social and relaxation function except on formal occasions. Personnel accommodation is usually attached to these messes incorporating a number of social spaces, gym facilities and other leisure areas such as bars and pool rooms. ---- Back to SEF Guide Category:General Information